Kerry, Russian FM Agree to Push Constitutional Reforms in Ukraine

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have agreed to press Ukraine for “constitutional reforms.” No details were provided on what sort of reforms these might be.

We can only guess that the major issue will be the legitimacy of the unelected “interim” government, installed by protesters at the end of weeks of clashes in Kiev. Russia has refused to recognize them, while the US endorsed them pretty much immediately.

Another constitutional issue is the secession of Crimea, which took place last week in the Crimean parliament. Crimea held a referendum today calling on the nation to join Russia, approved by an overwhelming margin.

The State Department spun the deal as a partial pullback by Russia, and suggested the Russians might be willing to stop short of full annexation of the Crimea. That may be a tough sell for Russia’s parliament, especially after such a strong endorsement in the referendum.

So, when will Washington be giving California, Texas, New Mexico and the rest of its annexed territories back to Mexico? If and when it does, then perhaps it will be in a more convincing moral position to tell the Russians what to do.

Russia has refused to recognize them
Missed that angle (shame on me): Are they b–ching about Crimea because they need Russia & others to legitimate their own conquest? Another bit is they really will do PR by projection: witches they burn are 'murderers.' Screeching that they (and some bandwagon of theirs) will never 'recognize' your gain may relate to that tendency if 'recognition' is something they actually need from you. So, eg would the "current gov't" meet NATO standards without 'recognition?' Does USg need it as much or more than Russia to maintain a gain? (really asking, don't know).

spun the deal as a partial pullback by Russia, and suggested the Russians might be willing to stop short of full annexation
LIke: "Hah! You blinked! I WIIIN!" …'cept blinking doesn't really mean that in, say, football… Might ask if this is a sign of Kerry's weakness. Did he go so overboard, himself, that he sorta needs a break? A 'victory' to declare?

The problem for the US is that as soon as the "austerity measures" demanded by the EU and IMF kick in, the majority of the country will turn against the new regime and vote in a pro-Moscow government – game over and Moscow wins. The US can't exclude pro-Moscow parties from the election as much as they would like to because the EU would not follow through on even the offer at some point in the distant future of membership of the EU. Kerry and that harpie Nuland thought that winning a battle for Ukraine would win the war against Moscow but they were wrong as usual. So I expect we will see a federal state of the Ukraine with the west being pro-Washington/EU, the south and east being pro-Moscow and Crimea being fully autonomous. Then the US and perhaps the EU will pump billions into western Ukraine to persuade the south and east that west is best..

The problem of the Ukrainian government's legitimacy (in plain English, it doesn't have any!) will be solved on 25 May, when elections are to be held. Thus, if Putin intends to grab Ukraine, he'll need to do it before the people have voted. And don't fall for the idea of an independent Western Ukriane. Look at the map! Such a state would be just south of Belarus and would stick into Putin's empire like a fist, unless Putin is planning to abandon Belarus, which, frankly, I doubt.